Keith and I are up a little early so we can get to the top well before noon.  I discover that my Thermorest Neoair sleeping pad is flat this morning.  When I get home, I'll have to work on repairing that.  I can't imagine what caused it to go flat the second night, but work well the first night.  We leave the mesa, pass the Last Chance mine, and start the uphill slog.  Since Keith is a much stronger hiker than I am, we say goodbye and he heads on up the trail.

Keith ready for the trail 4-27-2012 @ 7:35	Last Chance mine 4-27-2012 @ 7:43	Trail above the mesa 4-27-2012 @ 8:09

     There are a lot of blooming flowers on the way to the top.

	Scarlet Penstemon 4-27-2012 @ 8:09

Small-flowered Milkvetch 4-27-2012 @ 8:15	Indian Paintbrush 4-27-2012 @ 9:57	Phlox 4-27-2012 @ 10:22

     It must have been very labor intensive for Pete Berry and Ralph Cameron to build this stone paved trail over a hundred years ago, but that was necessary for access to their mining operation on Horseshoe Mesa.

Stone paved trail 4-27-2012 @ 8:46	Horseshoe Mesa 4-27-2012 @ 9:16

     Part way to the top I come to a section of the trail where extensive renovations have been made to repair a washed out area.  The extent of the repairs was not obvious on the way down.

Plateau Lizard 4-27-2012 @ 9:53	Trail renovations 4-27-2012 @ 10:02	Trail renovations 4-27-2012 @ 10:03

     I meet a few groups headed downhill on day hikes.  Pretty soon I reach the trailhead and my parked car.

Horseshoe Mesa 4-27-2012 @ 10:44	Grandview trailhead sign 4-27-2012 @ 10:45

     I'm headed to Flagstaff this afternoon.  Tomorrow I start my third raft trip through the Canyon.

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